Warren
Buffett’s
Berkshire
Hathaway
asked
regulators
to
keep
its
new
stock
purchase
secret
for
a
second
quarter
in
a
row,
while
the
conglomerate
trimmed
its
massive
Apple
stake
slightly
in
the
fourth
quarter,
according
to
a
new
regulatory
filing.
Berkshire
requested
that
the
Securities
and
Exchange
Commission
keep
the
details
of
one
or
more
of
its
stock
holdings
confidential.
Many
speculated
that
the
secret
purchase
could
be
a
bank
stock
as
the
10Q
filing
for
the
third
quarter
suggested
that
Berkshire
had
purchased
“banks,
insurance,
and
finance”
stocks
for
$1.2
billion.
Requesting
such
a
treatment
is
relatively
rare
for
Berkshire.
The
last
time
it
kept
a
purchase
confidential
was
when
it
bought
Chevron
and
Verizon
in
2020.
Apple,
Chevron
The
Omaha-based
conglomerate
sold
about
10
million
Apple
shares
last
quarter,
the
filing
showed.
At
the
end
of
2023,
Berkshire
still
owned
905,560,000
shares
of
the
iPhone
maker,
worth
more
than
$174
billion.
Berkshire
also
added
to
its
big
Chevron
holding
last
quarter,
making
the
bet
worth
nearly
$19
billion
and
the
firm’s
fifth
biggest
holding.
The
conglomerate
has
been
adjusting
the
energy
stake
for
a
few
quarters.
Chevron
has
been
underperforming
after
a
stellar
2022.
The
stock
sold
off
17%
last
year
and
it’s
up
only
1%
in
2024.
HP,
Paramount
Berkshire
significantly
reduced
its
stake
in
Paramount
,
holding
about
63.3
million
shares
at
the
end
of
December,
or
32%
fewer
shares
than
the
number
in
the
previous
quarter.
Paramount
Global shares
got
a
boost
recently
after
reports
of
a
potential
takeover
offer
,
but
the
media
company
could
still
prove
a
rare
losing
bet
for
Berkshire
.
The
conglomerate
first
acquired
its
nonvoting
stake
in
Paramount
in
the
first
quarter
of
2022.
Meanwhile,
Buffett’s
firm
continued
to
sell
down
its
stake
in
HP
,
reducing
the
number
of
shares
by
78%
to
just
22.8
million
in
the
fourth
quarter.
Berkshire
initially
bought
the
tech
hardware
stock in
April
2022.
Many
Buffett
watchers
had
already
suspected
the
Oracle
of
Omaha’s
intention
to
dump
the
stake
entirely.
Other
moves
Elsewhere,
Berkshire
exited
its
positions
in
Brazilian
fintech
StoneCo
,
homebuilder
D.R.Horton
and
financial
firms
Markel
and
Globe
Life
.
Over
the
past
month,
Berkshire
continued
to
buy
Liberty
Media’s
tracking
stock
for
New
York-based
satellite
radio
company SiriusXM
in
a
likely
merger
arbitrage
play.
The
move,
which
is
relatively
small
for
Berkshire,
could
come
from
the
billionaire’s
investing
lieutenants,
either
Ted
Weschler
or
Todd
Combs.
Meanwhile,
Berkshire
kept
adding
to
its
already-large
stake
in
Occidental
Petroleum
in
the
new
year,
now
owning
almost
30%
of
the
Houston-based
energy
producer.
